What Is A Touring Paddle Board? The Red Paddle Co Guide

There are plenty of different types of SUP out there, and so it’s not surprising if you’re a little unsure about the difference between them all. When looking for the perfect paddle board to suit your requirements, you’ll want to ensure that you know the difference between each design style. The 5 main types of SUP are:

• All-Round
• Racing
• Speciality e.g SUP Yoga 
• Multi-Person
• Touring 

In this blog we’ll look at what a touring paddle board is, and how this differs from other sups.

A touring paddle board is designed for longer expeditions or for taking lots of gear with you. This makes it a suitable choice for all-day or multi-day SUP trips. Generally speaking, touring paddle boards will have a pointed nose, known as a displacement hull. This means that they track straighter and quicker across the water. 

Touring paddle boards are longer and slightly narrower than all-round paddle boards. This makes them quicker, however it does make them more difficult to balance on. For this reason, they aren’t the most ideal SUPs for beginners to learn on. Touring paddle boards are intended for those who have the necessary skills and experience to cover longer distances or to paddle at speed. They are designed to enable you to cover distance more efficiently and without getting too tired. As they track straighter and quicker you can do more strokes before needing to change sides, and do fewer strokes to achieve a smooth glide. 

Find A Touring Paddle Board With Red Paddle Co

The perfect touring paddle board needs to be safe, durable and efficient. As the world’s leading inflatable SUP brand, our touring paddle boards have been carefully designed and tested thoroughly to ensure riders experience the best performance out of them. We have a range of touring paddle boards to suit riders of different sizes and experience levels. There are two main features that provide our touring paddle boards with enhanced speed and control. These are: 

V-Hull

We developed the V-Hull concept using real world paddling conditions, as well as conducting thorough testing in Plymouth University’s COAST Lab. When paddling into chop and / or side winds using the V-Hull you can improve tracking by altering your position on the board. For example, by standing further forward on the board you can engage more of the board’s waterline length, preventing it from being pushed sideways.

The V-Hull also allows the touring paddle board to cut through chop more effectively by reducing slamming and allowing riders to maintain glide speed. If you stand a little further forward on the board, you’ll see the water shedding off the side of the board, as it maintains its speed and tracking in challenging conditions. Equally, if you step further back, the nose will lift a few centimetres, presenting more of the flat hull to the water.